


Ricochet

by cease_fire



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: Action, Flashbacks, Friendship, Government Agencies, Kidnapping, Original Fiction, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Police, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-23 09:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 10,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14931450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cease_fire/pseuds/cease_fire
Summary: Octavia's perspective





	1. Prolouge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavia's perspective

When I was 15 I had 3 close friends Leon, Markus, and Jack. Jack fell in love with me and waited for two years until my 17th birthday to ask me out. Two months later I broke up with him, something he never forgave me for, after that he became cold and aggressive towards me behavior that would only escalate with time. 

The next year on the day before my birthday I was on my way to the old abandon church (where we all used to hang out) with Mark, Leon and Leon's sister (who was also Mark's girlfriend), Jessica. Jess and Leon saw their friend Samantha up ahead and ran off to say hi, leaving Mark and I at the opposite end of the street. 

"Octavia" a loud and angry voice rang out from behind us causing mark and i both to turn to see Jack looking smug and holding a gun in our direction, growling out the words "happy anniversary" before firing. 

I didn't even have time to process what was going on when Mark jumped out in front of me, the bullet intended for my chest lodging in his, before he crashed onto the pavement his own blood pooling around him. After that I don't exactly know what happened, my brain too panicked to commit anything to memory. I remember lunging at Jack, trying desperately to grab the gun out of his hand, I remember a struggle and the gunshot that ended it, leaving Jack lying motionless and bloodied at my feet. Standing between the two fallen teenagers both bleeding out on the sidewalk. I looked down the street to where Leon, Jess, and Sam were all sprinting towards me, but still to far away to help. Left to choose between which of the boys to help, I chose Mark instinctively if for no other reason that if he did die, he wouldn't be alone. 

By the time the police showed up Jack was long dead.


	2. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten years later

Jessica had just woken up, well woken up was a stretch, she was more so in that half awake state where you try to keep sleeping as reality begins to pull back into it. Eyes still closed she rolled over to cuddle her husband but her expectant arm was only greeted by an empty mattress. Sighing she got out of bed and headed into the rest of the house. Just as she'd suspected her spouse was sound asleep in the chair closest to the front door, a slight frown indented itself on her sleepy face but only for a moment. It's host continuing on into the kitchen to make coffee. Mid-way through she was interrupted by a rustling noise coming from the front hall,

Markus as he walked over to kiss her on the shoulder, "how long have you been up?"

"a few minutes" she replied honestly "saw you sleeping on the couch, have that dream again last night?" This time it was Markus' turn to frown except his was much slower to disappear indicating that his wife was correct in her assumption.

Turning his attention to the coffee machine he pointed towards it "that bag of bolts done yet? " He asked, desperate to escape another conversation about his preference to sleep by the door, crossing the kitchen the piece of paper he had seen slip under the door while attempting to sleep last night caught his eye "someone pushed a letter under the door last night" he remarked handing his wife the white envelope marked "The Devlins"

Jess turned the letter over in her hands "no return address" she noted

"yeah I saw that too, it's probably just for that street party everyone in the neighborhood has been talking about" suggested Mark as he sat down. The coffee pot began to beep, the sound of which pleased Jessica as she poured the brown fluid into a mug smiling at it's scent, before proceeding to open the letter. Markus watched her do so, Jess was always at her prettiest when she smiled, and he was loath to miss an opportunity to see when she did so. The moment was ruined however as Jess began to read the letter and her smiling expression sharply turned to horror.

"Jess what's wrong?" Markus asked in a concerned but curious tone, his wife gave no response though, just silence as she continued to read. A silence that was only broken by her coffee cup shattering on the floor.


	3. Enter Octavia

Octavia sat at a completely spotless desk in a completely abandoned office finishing up a case report from last week, technically she had finished the report two days ago but she was reading over again making sure every little detail was absolutely perfect. The report wasn’t due till tomorrow anyways. She look at the clock on her desk, 5:13 am, before returning to her report she pretended not to care about the time but somewhere in the back of her mind a voice was saying “this isn’t normal”. She put her elbows on her desk and rubbed her face, trying to silence her mind no it wasn’t normal, but it wasn’t uncommon for her either. Octavia was a raging insomniac, she had been since she was eighteen and so to save herself from the boredom and anxiety that being up all night caused, she had taken to filling her time with work. A solution which had lead her to take the most complicated detail ridden jobs she could find, and investigator for the International Criminal Court. Finding rubbing her face ineffective she leaned back in her chair, she could feel the pressure in her body building, her muscles tensing the voice in the back of her mind was turning from facts to fear filled fictions at a quicker pace now. She couldn’t sit here anymore, she thought as she grabbed the workout clothes she kept in her desk, she needed to run. 

The cold swiss air hit her face as she ran down the silent streets of Geneva, here, doing this, she felt untouchable. It was calming and for a brief few minutes she was allowed to just forget everything. Let it all slip from her mind and just be Octavia again. That is until her phone blew up. At first it was just one text, easily ignored, but then her phone chimed again and again until finally it started to ring. By the third phone call she couldn’t ignore whatever was happening anymore, and was forced to stop running and pull her phone out of her jacket. Two calls from Margret (her boss), one from Jessica and seven texts from Markus. It wasn’t unusual for her boss to call at all hours of the day if a case came up, but it was odd to receive anything from Jess of Markus neither of whom she had spoken to in a few years. She was about to open one of Mark’s messages when a text from her boss came in “I need you. Office now! Case, urgent!” and with that Octavia put her phone back in her coat, turned around and ran back to the office, forgetting all about Markus and Jessica.


	4. Case Assignment

Margret was never happy to see Octavia, not because Octavia was a bad investigator (in fact she was one of Margaret's finest) but she found her general presence to be irritating thus casing her to be very quick tempered, today was no exception.   
Octavia walked through the glass doors of Margret’s office still wearing her running gear, half panting. “got your message” she said “whats up?”

“first off” Margaret began “‘whats up’ is not an appropriate way to greet anyone, let alone your superior, secondly if you think it is acceptable to walk into my office dressed like that you are wrong” 

“sorry” Octavia muttered knowing it wouldn’t make any difference. as she slunk out of the office to get changed. Delivering Margaret to a sense of calm. 

Upon returning to Margret’s office Octavia made sure she was much more careful knocking, before walking in calmly and saying almost robotically “good morning Margret, I received your text, I’m assuming you have a new case for me”

“Of course I have a new case for you” Margret snapped back “otherwise I wouldn’t have called you in now would I have?”

“I supposed not” Octavia muttered sheepishly, deciding to let the older woman do the talking from now on

Margret walked behind her desk, her shoulder length grey hair seem not to react at all to her body's movement what so ever, pulling out a folder she began the briefing “the Canadian Climate Change ambassador to Germany was just kidnapped, and you have to be the one to investigate it” she said through gritted teeth. 

Octavia’s face dropped "wait but the Canadian climate change ambassador to Germany is…” “Leon Pentbox" Margaret interrupted Octavia, expecting the response, "yes I’m aware, and I want you to know that I strongly oppose you taking this case, but the family of the abductee insisted you took lead and your were my only agent who I knew would be awake at this hour. Personally I think your far too close to this issue to operate properly”

“can I have the case file please?” asked the investigator frantically, already demonstrating what a bad idea it was to give her the case

“here” Margret pushed it over to her begrudgingly "now go start working and stop bothering me. Also wipe that panicked look off your face, its unprofessional ” and with that Octavia exited the office as quickly as she’d entered it the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my grade 11 & 12 history teacher, D-mon you might'e been sharp with me but you were the best teacher I ever had


	5. May, 2014 (flashback)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavia's perspective

The first time I met Leon was May of 2014, it was a Friday night and as always our friend group had gathered in the church. He was sitting in between Markus and Jack playing who were playing prez with a bunch of my other friends, I pulled up a chair between him and Jack and rudely asked who the short ginger kid next to me was 

“thats Leon” Markus replied but I couldn’t here the name because at that moment Jack’s brother Steven and a few other guys had loudly broken out into song for no apparent reason. Not wanting to seem rude I didn’t bother to ask for the newbie’s name again, rather I just tried to piece it together based on what I had managed to make out. It took Leon three whole weeks to realize I was calling him Lion and correct me. I continued to call him Lion afterwards however, it became our inside joke and although I would go on to invent many other nicknames for him Lion would be the one that made us friends.

I didn’t know it then but choosing to sit between Jack and Leon that day would be the start of something great, through the next year the four of us Markus, Jack, Leon and I would become incredibly close. They were my boys and I loved each of them deeply. But my seating choice that day also started us down the path that would lead to a violent, and tragic end


	6. Marky and the Octagon

Octavia stood up from her seat and retrieved her carry on, it was the only piece of luggage she had brought seeing as how she didn’t plan to remain in Paris for very long. She then made sure to let every other passenger get off the plane first, although she although they had been extremely good friends she was still very nervous about seeing Mark and Jess again, especially under these circumstances. Eventually the plane emptied out and she was given no choice but to get off, taking a deep breath as she did so. “why are you so nervous” she thought to herself “your seeing them tomorrow, today your just getting set up at your hotel. Chill”. Chill. thats right just chill she told herself walking through the terminal gates. in a violent jolt someone grabbed her... no not grabbed, hugged, someone was hugging her, who? 

Her answer came pretty quickly as her assaulter squeezed her tighter before saying “Hey Octagon” Markus, of course, no one else but Chris called her that and he was in Russia. 

Immediately she threw her arms around him and hugging back just as if not more tightly “hey Marky” he let go of her and punched her in the arm, “don’t call me Marky” he said, “don’t call me Octagon” she replied and just like that any worries she had about seeing her friends again vanished. Mark was Mark same brown hair, tan skin and slender figure, no amount of time would change that.

“Where’s Jess?” Octavia asked as she climbed into the passenger seat of her friend's car,   
“currently she’s explaining to her parents about Leon, she really wanted to be here but y’know family comes first” said Mark buckling his seatbelt. 

“How’s she coping with it?” Octavia asked tentatively “she pretty shaken up” Mark replied the upturned corners of his lips drooping “we both are” he brought the car to a full stop in from of the parking garage payment both, turning to look Octavia dead in the eyes, his voice shaking in a manner she had heard very few times “what we went through with…” he trailed off, she nodded knowing exactly what he was referring to “I can’t go through that again, I just can’t” he continued. 

Upon returning his stare Octavia couldn’t help but notice the pain in his eyes, not just a fresh pain from what was happening to Leon but a much older, deeper pain, one that she knew was in her eyes as well. A shared tragedy they would never fully escape the shadow of “I know Mark, but this won’t end like that, I promise. I won’t let it” she said reassuringly. Her outward confidence however did nothing to sooth her own internal fears, that it might be just like last time, that she would again be responsible for the death of someone in their friend group. 

Breaking his gaze Markus focused his attention on the parking machine beside them “Jessica should be off the phone with her parents by now, and I know she’d love to see you, want to come for dinner?” his voice returning.

“I’m not sure I have much of a choice since you're the one driving” Octavia said smirking 

“thats very true” Markus noted as he drove out of the parking lot “speaking of which I’m very proud of you getting over your fear of riding in vehicles that I'm behind the wheel the wheel of" he added, 

“oh, I definitely haven't, I just didn’t want to break your little heart by refusing after you came all this way, I’m actually truly terrified right now” she retorted 

“Whats the matter don't you trust me?” he prodded

“Markus Devlin I would trust you with my life, however that does not mean I trust you with a car” his companion firmly stated.

The two continued to banter like this for the rest of the drive.


	7. The welcoming party

“OCTAVIA” yelled Jessica excitedly the minute the door opened running to greet the aforementioned friend, Octavia had once again not been expecting the hug and her return of the gesture was rather awkward, but nonetheless heartfelt. “Sorry that was a really sucky hug, can we try that again?” Octavia asked 

Jessica laughed, hugging her for a second time “Octavia you are me”  
“I’m also here you know” Mark butted in causing Jessica to laugh even harder going over to give him a quick kiss “yes I know and I’m very glad you are” 

Markus put his arms around her hips and drew his wife closer giving her another peck on the lips “how did your parents take the news?” with that he had broken whatever spell that had been blocking Jessica from being weighed down by the circumstances. 

Turning away she broke his embrace walking over to unload the dishwasher. “As well as any parent who’s just been told their son's been kidnapped” she replied quickly 

“I’m here to do a job Jess” Octavia started, she felt bad her best friends were standing here worried sick and she was giving them the same speech she gave to every victim’s family, but knowing nothing else continued on “I intend to try do that job successfully”

“I know you do Octavia” muttered Jessica, staring at her reflection in a clean plate “but sometimes the best job in the world can’t outrun fate”

That comment landed like a punch in the gut, as Octavia's mind began to spin, reiterating over and over that nothing she could do would help her friend and that just her trying might lead to his death. Quickly asking directions to the washroom Octavia rushed in and shut the door, she felt violently ill, and bending over the toilet, she closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. instead closing her eyes had the opposite affect as she unwillingly began to imagine her eighteen year old self, covered in blood that wasn’t her own, no no no, shit this couldn’t be happening, not now. She started running through every choice that had lead to that moment, that gunshot every conversation she and jack had ever had ran through her head at a million miles an hour. the phrase "it could have ben avoiding if" constantly reemerging. Opening her eyes again had no effect her brain continued to reel "your fault, your fault" a voice in her head kept chanting. Fuck, she needed to go out to her luggage to get her meds, she had to pretend to be fine in front of mark and Jess it felt like an impossible task. Taking a deep breath she opened the door emerging from the washroom she fixating her eyes on her backpack she marched over to her purse trying to look as causal as possible something she was certain she was failing at but in reality was probably fine. reaching her bag she hastily retrieved her pill bottle and downed an anti-psychotic. Stuffing the bottle back in her bag she locked eyes with Mark for a brief moment as a wave of relief began to fill her mind, they looked at each other just long enough for him to silently acknowledge he saw her. She wasn't concerned about it though but he wasn’t going to ask, he had his own problems.   
Dinner came and went without any major events, Mark had resolved to go to bed early on account of the fact he hadn't slept well the night before, leaving Jessica and Octavia alone to catch up. It was mostly small talk inquiring after friends once shared and events long abandoned, until both women ran out of material to reminisce over and were force to discuss current events. Octavia was first to address the topic they both knew was inevitable but had been trying to avoid despite it.

"How’s he doing?” she inquired gesturing upstairs to where Mark was sleeping , “With what happened to Jack, I mean” just saying his name caused her brain to nearly spiral away again.

Jessica sighed putting her wine glass down “He has good days and bad days, some days its like nothing ever happened and he's as carefree as he was when he was seventeen other days he’s he’s constantly certain a horrible tragedy will strike and everything he loves will be gone. Sometimes he still has nightmares about that night and has to sleep by the door. I think it makes him feel safer, like he's protecting the house I guess" her steel gray eyes seemed distant but full of compassion when talking about her husband's predicament, realizing she had gone on too long Jessica turned her attention to her guest. "what about you how do you handle it?”

“I just sorta do, y'know” Octavia replied attempting to respond in a way that didn't make it seem as though her life was a mess “I just carry on with my life and try not to look behind me” a lie a complete boldfaced lie, everyday the memory of what had happened that night haunted Octavia. But her friend couldn't know that, Jess needed someone to have faith in right now, a rock she could hold onto, and for better or worse that was Octavia.


	8. Waking Up

Octavia woke up wondering where she was and immediately panicked feeling for the gun she kept under her pillow, it wasn't there, she tensed and prepared for the worst. Sitting up she began to try and reconstruct the day before. Almost immediately her memory rushed back to her. She was fine. Quickly and methodically she got dressed checked that her gun was in her purse and left the guest bedroom.   
Mark and Jess had insisted she stay at their place during the investigation and indeed they were both already up with breakfast prepared. Jessica was still eating hers reading a book on the history of pole dancing, her bobbed red hair disguising her face. Mark on the other hand had already finished breakfast and was doing push-ups on the floor. Show off, Octavia thought amusingly to herself, some things never change. 

"If you keep doing those your going to be shaped like a Dorito" she said matter of factly going over to get some of the eggs Jess had made. "Yeah but I'll be a ripped Dorrito" he reply with a smirk, 

"will you two ever have a logical, normal conversation" Jessica interrupted exasperated. 

"Normal? What's that? It sounds boring" Mark instinctually responded, his smile growing wider. 

Octavia quickly reiterated this point "Please, Jess you've known us for a long time, when are we ever logical?"Jessica sighed, shaking her head, going back to her book, causing the other two to laugh. 

 

Octavia was hesitant to ruin the moment but knew she would have to, no matter how hard she laughed Leon was still in danger. "We should start working" she said solemnly, Mark and Jess straightened, it seemed as if a dark cloud had suddenly come over the trio.

"Of course" muttered Jessica proceeding to open a drawer beneath the counter and retrieving a piece of paper, before joining rejoining Octavia and Mark at the breakfast table. "Ok" said Octavia, pulling her straight black hair into a tight pony tail "let's do this"


	9. June, 2016 (flashback)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark's perspective

In high school Octavia was always the most school focused of all of us, she was always stressed about some project or test and worked really hard on everything she submitted. As in stupidly hard, to the point where it was bad for her health. When became like a coma patient, working for hours without saying a word or eating a thing, I don't think she was even fully aware of the world around her. I never saw her in this state myself, she always needed to be alone when it occurred, but I saw the after affects of it all the time, they were impossible to miss. She would come to the church exhausted eating anything she could get her hands on, more than once resorting to eating sriracha sauce on crackers. In conversation her words would be choppy and forced like one of those human robots trying to respond in real time that doesn't quite make sense. She was spacey, would often zone out and forget things you had just told her. the worst case of this occurred during her grade twelve year where I hardly saw her not in this weird zombie state, I had nicknamed "the academic octagon" but what scared me most when she was like this wasn't her exhaustion or declining health but the obsession over her work. when you asked her what she had been working on. All traces of her would completely vanish, replaced instead by a barely sentient Wikipedia article. She would sit straight up and recite to you exactly what she had been doing in extensive detail word for word, the worst of these instances was when she gave my friend Cameron and I a fifteen minute speech which outlined her entire essay on the UN's failure to address genocide and specific instances of that occurring. In that moment she wasn't Octavia she was a hollow shell that would do anything to accomplish the task in front of her. In those moments she scared everybody.


	10. Volunteers

Mark looked over at Octavia, for the reassuring confidence she so often protruded, but whoever was at the table with him and Jess now was not his friend. She was steely eyed and stone faced. Just the same as the academic octagon used to be. Except this time it was different, it was controlled by Octavia, making her far more dangerous than she had been in years past. 

“Tell me exactly what happened” she began, her voice steady and monotone “When did you get the letter”

Jessica picked it up from there “it been pushed under the door while we were sleeping so between twelve and eight I guess”

“2:43 to be exact” Mark interjected. Both women looked at him impressed 

Jessica seemed slightly downtrodden at this remark already knowing the answer she asked “and you know his how?” 

“I went downstairs to sleep around one” he explained “you know I’m a really light sleeper, so up at the sound of the letter being pushed under the door woke me up, I remember checking the clock to see what time it was” 

“princess and the pea over here” Octavia muttered to herself, but if either of the other two noticed no one cared to comment on it. 

Jessica was staring at her husband looking betrayed “why did you not tell me this?”

“I'm sorry, you were so upset about the letter as was I it slipped my mind” Markus responded defensively, 

“oh so it slips your mind talking to you wife but the moment the cops show up, oh yes it happened at 2:43”. Jess retorted sharply 

“GUYS” Octavia interrupted loudly, sensing the conversation growing ever tenser “you can bicker about this later, right now we need to find leon” Octavia turned to Mark, “are there cameras in the hallway outside the apartment?” 

“I'd bet on it” 

“good”

Jessica rolled her eyes “don’t see why we need the camera footage, he literally signed his name to it” she passed the letter to Octavia. Taking it from her hand Agent Calgrin examined the document before her it was crisp, white, pinter paper containing on it a typed message

“Dear Jessica, Markus, and Octavia  
I hadn’t heard form any of you in a while so I decided to take action to ensure we all had the opportunity to have a reunion, I hope you don’t mind. I caught up with Leon not to long ago and decided it would be best for him to stay with me so that you all had ample motivation for attending, it’s what my brother Jack would have wanted. Now at this point I’m sure you all wondering why I only sent an invitation to the happy wed couple. Its quite simple, the person I most want to see is Octavia of course, in fact should she come I would be so elated there would be no point to the rest of the reunion and Mr. Devlin here could go free. However, I am aware that had I merely written this to Octavia with my location her character would cause her to go alone and attempt to make a clean trade of her life for his, that way minimal people are would be affected. But I want you all to suffer for what you did, and for that reason I’m going to give you hope, I promise I won’t kill Leon until the 23rd of April, that gives you 3 weeks to find my location and deliver the good agent to me or suffer the consequences. I want to make sure you fully comprehend the situation so I have enclosed so photos of the ambassador as proof.  
Do hope to see you all soon,

Steven”

Octavia pulled the photos out of the envelope, they were of Leon alright, he was bloody, tied to a wooden chair with a gag around his mouth, his long ginger hair falling down to his shoulders. From the red marks around his neck, the bloated lips as well as the depth and preciseness of the wounds on his face there was no doubt he was being tortured. She glanced at Jessica and Markus, Mark met her eyes, he knew too, of course he knew he had spent 3 years in the UN peacekeepers after college. She only had to look at him for a moment to know the message he was trying to convey “don’t tell Jess” giving him a barely noticeable nod she returned to working. 

“Well Jess you’re right, its definitely Steven Leutiz, I’ll send the photos and camera footage to my forensic analysis back at the ICC, hopefully they will be able to make something it of it. in the meantime I’m going to begin tracing Steven’s history” 

It was Markus who raised an objection this time “how can you trace his movements you have no idea where he lives or what he does and I doubt he’s going by that name if he intended to do this”

“Well I know what high school he went to, so I'll start there" said Octavia definitively 

Mark continued his line of questioning “wait what about Leon, wouldn’t it be a better idea to trace Leon’s movements? Where Steven grabbed him?” sounding instant that no stone remained unturned. 

“Well, yes” replied Octavia “But I can only do one thing at a time, and I tend to find knowing your enemy is more important” 

“we don’t have time to research things one at a time” exclaimed Mark nearly jumpin out of his seat “Doesn’t the ICC have other agents that can help you?” 

Octavia looked at Mark sadly shaking her head, “No the investigative unit is small and on a low budget, were lucky its still around. Trust me I can do this”

“Not on your own you can’t” said Jessica suddenly and forcefully “let us help you” 

a look of shock spread across Octavia's face “Absolutely not” she proclaimed firmly “you two are already wrapped up in this enough, not to mention you're civilians” 

“exactly” said Mark building off his wife's suggestion “we are involved in this and no matter how hard you try Octavia you can’t spare us that truth. As a matter of fact we are your most valuable resources, we know the villain, we know the victim, and we know the motivation. Not to mention I’m a former military commander and Jess an olympic athlete. You don’t have the resources for extra agents so we are going to be them for you.” Octavia began to interrupt, but Mark stopped her “Don’t you dare say no, I’ve taken bullets for friends before, and I’m more than prepared to do it again. I can’t speak for Jessica of course” 

“I share his intentions” Jess quickly asserted

"ok so maybe I do speak for Jess, Oct you’ve got to let us do this” Mark begged. 

She had to admit it was a good plan and seeing no other option Octavia caved “alright, but my boss really isn’t going to like this”


	11. Mousetrap

“NO, absolutely not, the ICC does not allow civilians to participate in an investigation under any circumstances” Margaret was almost yelling, “what on earth compelled you to contemplate such a stupid idea?” 

Octavia, attempting to stand her ground responded "They aren’t ordinary civilians though, he’s an ex peacekeeper and Jess is an olympic gold medalist” she could see Margaret’s jaw tightening, even over the bad wifi connection 

“if the word civilian is still there I don’t care” her boss fumed.

“Margaret, please I’m asking as a favour. I really think they are our best chance at finding Leon Taylor” Octavia was pleading, she was treading on dangerous ground now, but none the less it was ground she could hold

Margaret took a deep breath “I am not about to tarnish my reputation as, the first african american CIA operative, as well as the most successful agent the CIA has ever known and the first ever head of the ICC investigative unit by enlisting two regular civilians because they may be useful to a case, do I make myself clear?” 

This was the end of the conversation and Octavia knew it, in a last desperate act she decide to try one more time“I understand boss, that being said is there any thing I could do to change you mind?” there was a long silence, the ferocity in Margret’s eyes grew with every breath. I’ve had it Octavia thought, she’s going to pull me off the case, Margret opened her mouth than shut it, and then a smirk spread ever so faintly across her face. Octavia who had never seen her boss react in such a way before was absolutely petrified of whatever was going to be said next, her brain was running over 10,000 different ways to escape the situation but her body refused to do a single one. “You have a brother don’t you agent” Margret finally said slyly, 

Octavia attempted to answer firmly without giving away how scared she was, but her voice came out timid “yes ma’am, I do”   
“Chris? thats his name right?” the leader of the ICC pressed on “remind me again what he does, the name sounds very familiar” 

Wherever this was going Octavia didn’t like it, Chris had always been a point of contention in her career and she wasn't eager to discuss him “he studied software engineering, but he doesn’t do it currently” she replied 

“and why would that be? He was top of his class at Yale wasn’t he?” Margret was taunting her now, Margret knew all about Chris, Octavia was a mouse in a trap at this point. with no way to escape she might as well play along,

Reluctantly Octavia replied the same way she always did when pressed on this topic “he went to Russia to do research for a paper, the Russian government found out and captured him, he’s been a political prisoner for the last two years” 

“yes I remember now the ICC did and investigation into his imprisonment, The conclusion was that he had faked his capture in order to work for Edward Snowden. The agents who investigated the case seemed to think he was still in touch with his family, could never prove it though.” Margaret was locked onto her kill about to pounce at any moment 

Octavia was getting angry now “Whats your point?” she asked through gritted teeth.

Strategically Margaret revealed her request “my point Agent, is that your brother’s talents would be very well utilized here at the ICC, and you could tell him that, I would see to it he was cleared of any charges and was paid a fair amount or course”

Octavia was finding it difficult to talk again but this time fear was not he culprit it was anger, her chest felt like it was going to explode, she began to open and close her fist in an attempt to calm down. Whatever game Margret was playing at Chris was her brother and she would not allow herself to be used as a tool to get to him. “why on earth would I do that? assuming he is doing what you accuse him of and I can reach him, Chris is safe where he is and he is happy I have no reason to tell him to return”

“Oh but you do, if you convince your brother to work for the ICC, I will let the Devlins assist in you investigation.” checkmate was in Margret’s sights, the director could smell it, one more blow and she would have what she wanted “so I suppose its a question of who you value more your brother’s happiness or your friend’s life” 

Game over, Margret was right, Octavia couldn’t do this without Mark and Jess, and the only way she could get them was to get Ryan. But just because Margret was winning didn’t mean she couldn’t get a consolation prize “hypothetically if I convince him to work with the ICC, I get priority over him. He assists my cases first, active immediately”

“that is acceptable yes” the former CIA agent nodded “I expect to hear from you in a few hours, and I better get the result I want” she hung up the call.  
Octavia leaned back in her chair, crap she thought Chris isn't going to like this


	12. From Russia With Love

Octavia’s purse was on the other side of the room, she strode over to pick it up, feeling the worn black leather handle and making sure it was completely empty, threw it over her shoulder, grabbed her jacket and walk out of her room through Jess and Mark’s condo, down the stairs and out into the cold night air. She walked for a long time with no particular direction in mind. Chris had given her very specific rules about contacting him, and just because she was calling on behalf of a government agency did not mean she was going to turn him in altogether. Finally, she found a bench on a scrappy road with no street lights, she couldn’t see any cell towers and her phone only had one bar with no detectable wifi. Putting her phone in her coat pocket, she brought her purse to her lap. Reaching in she felt the bottom of her purse until her finger stumbled upon a latch, pushing it in she counted to three before pulling. The false bottom of her purse opened like a door revealing a 6mm Glock, which she kept as her back-up, back-up gun. Removing the handgun from her bag she placed it calmly next to her on the bench, it was probably a good idea to keep it out, she wasn’t in the safest part of town. Now she put both hands into the purse grabbing the lining at the bottom of the bag, shame she had liked this purse, ripping it apart she took her left hand out, it would only get in the way, with her right she reached through the hole in the lining. It didn’t take long to find what she was looking for, her hand closing around a hard, cold rectangle, extracting the object she pushed the empty and destroyed purse aside. In her hand was a 2003 Nokia cell phone, indestructible, and her only connection to Chris. He had given it to her the day he left, she was the only person he had told the truth about what he doing in Russia to, making her the only one who knew he wasn't coming back. She remembered him handing it to her, and telling her it was one time use for emergencies, then he had hugged her, and left. She hadn't seen Chris since.  
Gazing at the phone now, thousands of emotions ran through her body, the dread of asking him to come home, the fear he might say no or get angry but through all that was an overwhelming excitement of seeing her brother again. She went to the contacts list, which consisted of only one name, not really a name it was a message, the words in the name row simply read “love you” with a number underneath. Octavia smiled wanting to cry, it was so like Chris to do something like this. Her heart hurt she hadn't realized how much she missed her little brother, and the different shenanigans he thought of to make people feel special.   
Holding back tears she hit the number and brought the phone to her ear, listening to the ring. It had only been ringing for a few seconds when someone picked up, Octavia’s heart skipped a beat.

“Octa?” a groggy voice with a slight Russian accent groaned 

“Chris? Chris is that you?” Octavia questioned growing excited 

“Of course it’s me, who else would it be? Whats up?” Chris responded strangely casually for someone who hadn't spoken to his sister in years.   
Hearing his voice st in the reality of what she was asking him to do as her excitement died out “I need you to come home” Octavia began “Leons been kidnapped and the ICC won’t let me do what I need to in order to find him unless you come work for them” she began to cry, “I’m sorry I didn't want to do this to you but I don't know what else to do and I’m scared and I need help, Leon is out there being tortured and I just…”

“Woah, woah” he stopped her “just slow down a second, its going to be ok, I'm going to come home and help you”

Octavia sniffled “you will? you don't have too I'm sure you're doing really well in Russia with Snowden and the rest of your hacking buddies” she was rambling and Chris knew it, “octagon stop, Leon is my friend too remember, and if you need me somewhere thats where I'm going to be no questions asked. Besides the weather here is killing me, literally somedays I'm snowed-in with snowden”

Octavia gave a small laugh, “I missed you”   
“I missed you too, I’ll be home soon ok? just watch the pop-up ads on your computer” “You got it, see you soon”   
“See you soon. Love you”  
“Love you too”

The line went dead, suddenly Octavia was all alone sitting on a cold bench, on a dark street in the dead of night. She should head back, and she would soon, but first she needed to stay and cry a bit longer. She didn't cry in front of other people, and she certainly wouldn't let Mark see her cry. After another thirty minutes she got up, tucked the Glock into the back of her jeans, and began to walk back to the condo, leaving the purse on the bench, and stopping only to toss the Nokia into a nearby river.


	13. That which is known

Mark walked into his kitchen to find Octavia sound asleep on his couch, wearing the same clothes from yesterday. he doubted she’d changed, her laptop lay on the floor next to her, knowing Octavia she had probably worked through the night. He studied the woman on his couch, she looked so peaceful and relaxed, in a way he didn't know was possible for her. Even in her youth Octavia had this constant tenseness about her, as if she thought some cataclysmic event could occur at any second. It was strange to see her this calm, the more he looked at her, the less he seem to recognize her. His thought process was rudely interrupted by the theme music from the movie Pacific Rim, confused he looked around for the source of the noise. His eyes settled on his friend’s phone, which was resting not far from her computer, of course that was her ringtone, it had been since the movie came out. He glanced at Octavia, then the phone, then back to Octavia, she wasn't stirring in the slightest. He moved to answer the phone then stopped, when they were teenagers Octavia would have killed him had he tried to pull a stunt like this, but she looked so content he didn't dare wake her and whoever was calling could have vital information about Leon. Having made up his mind, Mark promptly picked up the phone and swiped the answer bar.

“Agent Calgrin’s phone” he said sharply, 

"your not Agent Calgrin" a female voice on the other end replied alarmed,

Mark attempted to respond as professionally as possible "No, I'm her colleague, she isn't around right now" 

The woman on the other end suddenly burst into laughter "you're kidding me, Octavia got a partner?!? No way that's true"

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Markus asked defensively 

"Octavia doesn't work with others, that's why. Everyone the ICC placed her with asked to be transferred within a month of working with her. I'm the closest thing she was to a partner and I'm just her researcher." The caller said clearly holding back more laughter. 

A fantastic thought formed inside of Markus' head, Octavia would hate him but this was too good to pass up. "Right so you're the researcher, and your name is?" He inquired, 

there was a pause on the line, and then a response "how do I know your actually working with the ICC and you haven't just kidnapped, Calgrin?"

"Because Octavia is far too good of an agent to let herself get captured with her phone and ID, and I'm willing to bet you know that" Markus in reality knew nothing about Octavia's career record but just from knowing her he was willing to make some assumptions.

Another pause, this one shorter "you first"

"I'm Markus"   
"Last name"   
"Devlin" 

He could here the key board clicks on the other end of the line, shoot, he thought, I'm not in the system. He was about the open his mouth to say something when the mystery researcher spoke "Agent Maliki"

"Sorry?", he replied lost

"My name, Agent Maliki" she repeated again

"Oh right" Mark was even more lost that he had been before, how was he in the system, had Octavia really managed to convince her boss that quickly. 

His thought process was once again interrupted by Agent Maliki, "aren't you going to ask why I called?"  
"yes that" Mark said, snapping back into reality "why did you call?" 

The researcher quickly began to convey information "I looked into your boy Leon, it's all pretty clean cut, went to Harvard did an honours in environmental science, minored in poli sci. He worked for a couple different environmental organizations before moving to Germany to become a climate change advisor for the chancellor. Good at his job, well liked, and all-round just general good guy. The one thing I found that was strange was his love life."

 

Mark rolled his eyes "His love life? This is Leon Taylor we are talking about he probably has the most boring love life ever" 

"It's very odd, he hasn't held a relationship for longer than 3 months in the past 5 years. He dates a girl briefly and then never sees her again, however there's this one girl who keeps popping up, a Samantha Bakolomy, every once and a while she comes around they go on a single date she stays the night and then leaves in the morning, and then doesn't reappear for months." the agent explained, "I did a little research, she's a psychologist in Iceland, no real red flags, I'm only bringing it up on account of she was with him the night before he went missing." 

"Right ok, what about Steven Leutiz?" Mark pressed right now he had access to all the details of the case, and fully planned to exploit that. 

"Yeah, about that, I dug around a fair bit and your guy's a ghost. He's been totally wiped from all his high school and college records, and his Facebook account is totally gone, and I mean completely gone. Most Facebook accounts when they're deleted you can still find them but this... He using some serious tech" Maliki sounded almost impressed at the lack or information available to her

"well can't you counter act that?" Mark had grown up with serious nerds he knew that if you couldn't find something on a computer you weren't hacking hard enough. 

The agent snorted "please, with this budget? The computer I'm using is 20 years old, if you think I have cutting edge hacker tech you're dreaming. Anyways, I'm also emailing all my findings to Octavia, as well. is there anything else you need?" Markus saw his chance "yeah actually I'm hoping you could send me all the information on the partners Octavia scared off to my email"   
"Why would you want that?"  
"None of your business"  
"None of yours either, nice talking to you"  
And the call ended


	14. August 2016 (Flashback)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris' perspective

The best example of the relationship between my sister and I is eleven years back, we where in Detroit with our friends for summer vacation, participating in a program where you could live in a abandon house over the summer if you fixed it up. Earlier that summer Octavia had unknowingly broken her foot and was walking around on it untreated with mild pain. One night we had a dance party and she moved her foot in the wrong spot causing her a great deal of anguish. Although my sister emitted and audible gasp she was a proud creature and unwilling to show pain in front of her male friends, whom she had worked so hard to gain the respect of. So instead she moved into the kitchen to get ice, I saw her limp away (quite badly) and immediately knew what had happened. My panic hit like a ton of bricks, the person I cared most for in the world was in pain, and with the panic came a compulsion to fix it. Without thinking I followed her into the kitchen, upon seeing me Octavia’s first instinct was to comfort me attempting to insist she was fine. However, before she could even finish her sentence I yelled “SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP”. She, of course in response only began yelling at me insisting nothing was wrong, this wore on until I eventually won out and she sat down while I got her ice. I then proceed to fireman carry her to the couch, as she continued to maintain she was in perfectly good condition and didn't want me to injure myself. At some point in an attempt to shut her up, I said something along the lines of “I’m a man, I can do this”. Of course her being an avid feminist, she then yelled at me that I was being sexist and began hitting me with her bag of ice. Bottom line I carried her past our friends as she hit me with an ice pack and both of us yelling at each other, it was really funny.


	15. The Break In

Chris’ plane touched down at 2:30 in the morning in Geneva, not that it was his plane per-say, he was traveling on a well forged passport so really it was Deven’s plane. His luggage, which consisted of three massive suitcases, one for his actual luggage and two full of computer tech. Most of the tech wasn't technically allowed to cross the border but he had implanted a special type of jammer in the bag so that they'd have no problem getting through security. Trouble was once the batteries on the jammer went out a thousand different things were going send off a thousand different signals and set off every single alarm in the airport. He checked his watch, he had five minutes left, without thinking twice he bolted to the baggage claim. Grabbing a luggage trolley he threw, three identical dark green suitcases on it and made a break for the airport doors, not even bothering to blend in. He reached door just as he heard the first alarm go off running towards the nearest taxi. Despite the driver’s instance all three bags would not fit in the tiny car, Chris had other plans forcing the trunk closed. Behind him the airport was growing more chaotic as confused travelers mixed with security guards now on full alert. He got in the car, gave an address and the driver took off, leaving the ongoing crisis behind them. 

 

As the car drove Chris couldn't help feeling bad about lying to Octavia, he had promised to tell her the details of his flight so she could pick him up. But then she’d have to tell the ICC, and with them watching him there was no way he would've gotten his equipment on the flight. He would let the ICC know his location at a later date, and it wasn't like he wasn't planning on telling Octavia he was in the country, he knew it would be easier to convince her to keep quiet about his where about once he arrived than if he had told her in advance. Despite his rational he still felt bad, if his sister had been looking forward to a airport reunion half as much as he had, then she was going to be seriously disappointed. Plus there was the small matter that he was about to break into her apartment, but she’d probably be chill about that. 

After paying the cabbie Chris stood outside of Octavia’s building, at 3:00 in the morning it was unlikely he'd just be able to catch a closing door behind someone. No matter, he pulled the shiny glass and stainless steal door open and dragged his bags in after him. After a brief inspection of the keypad he discovered it was quite easy to trick into opening by entering a 20 digit code which caused it to believe every resident was attempting to enter the building at once. Making his way through the lobby silently, riding an elevator up to the eighteenth floor. He pulled the suitcases down the long hallway which wasn't quite wide enough for two suitcases, this caused him a fair amount of difficulty as he dragged the three cases down the corridor mentally cursing his sister for having to live at the very end of the hall. Finally he came upon her door this was the easiest part of the break in by far, pulling out his lock picking kit, it took him under ten seconds to open the door and enter the condo. It was alarmed obviously, but even more obvious was the code, Octavia’s standard code for everything which she never changed, despite being a security freak. Quickly he typed B177 into the little white box on the wall and he was in. 

 

Turning on the light and shutting the door behind him, he looked around, the apartment was big, huge actually, with hardwood floors and floor to ceiling windows that let you look out onto the entire city. The living room was painted completely white, with a white furry rug and bookshelves, above the rug hung the only piece of furniture a clear plastic bubble chair the size of a bed, which was across from the tv. The theme of white continued through the rest of the condo the the only points of contrast being the kitchen counters, cabinets and a small breakfast table with a single chair, all of which were pitch black. The apartment was meticulously maintained, on first glance it looked like a demo room in IKEA, the only indication that anyone lived there were the mass amounts off books which flooded the shelves. He made his way into what turned out to be her bedroom which was also painted and decorated entirely in white, the only difference being the walls were completely covered in post-it notes Octavia had written to herself over time. Each contained a reminder to do something and the date written, some contained x’s or checkmarks to indicate completion while others had second notes written underneath them. It didn't appear she actually ever removed the notes, rather just stuck new ones on top. It was insane but it was undoubtedly Octavia. Yawning, he elected to go to bed, it had been a long flight and he had a lot of unpacking to do tomorrow. Changing into pyjamas he climbed into the bed, closed his eyes, and allowed sleep to swallow him.


	16. Conference Call

Octavia tried to pay attention to what Markus was telling her, but he had started talking immediately when she had woken up, before her morning Adderal and coffee (doctor prescribed). Attempting once again to focus she stared straight into his eyes and followed the sounds his words were making, Agent Maliki, Iris. Iris had called with research, crap she had forgotten to fill Iris in on the case, she wondered how she found out, maybe Margret had informed her. Margret would be furious in that case and would've made that clear to her, no, when she got the case the info must have auto sent to Iris as well, yes that made sense. Octavia realized she wasn't listing to Markus again, trying to harness her brain power she brought herself back to the present, he was talking about Samantha now, Samantha? Why would he be talking about her, was she involved in this somehow? Ugh, she was so lost, she hated feeling like this.

“Octavia. Hello, earth to Octavia. Are you even listening to anything I'm saying?” Mark pulled her out of her thoughts.

“uhhhhh” She could feel her blood pressure rising as her mind began to panic, trying to recover information she didn't have. All of a sudden the TV turned on and made a loud humming noise causing Mark to turn around, all regard for the current conversation dismissed. She was saved, by what exactly? The TV was just showing a static screen, though the noise had now ceased. 

“Jess, honey?” Markus called, “did you unplug the network or something?”

“No, why” Jessica emerged from the bedroom in a pink bathroom, seeing the odd state of the tv she joined them in the living room. Suddenly there was a click, and the static turned to a picture of an all white apartment. Octavia’s all white apartment. 

“What the…” Octavia began to say

“Ha, got it!” Chris walked into view, “Sorry, about the static, someone else was on the frequency, don't worry I killed their signal so its all good now” 

There was awkward silence as the trio, tried to pull their jaws off the floor, only broken by the shuffling noise Jess’s bathrobe made as she rushed to close it tighter. 

“What the hell are you doing in my apartment?” Octavia was the first to regain her wits.

“Right that, well as much as I loved the ICC paying for my flight and housing, If i let that happen I wouldn't have been able to bring certain items I needed” Chris explained. “And well, I needed a place to stay where I wouldn't be noticed.”

“So you broke into my apartment!!!”   
“Basically, yeah”

“Wait a minute” an opportunity to mock his friend appeared to Markus, “Octavia, thats your apartment?”

“Yeah” Octavia said defensively   
“Why is it all white?”  
“Why is isn't yours all white?”  
"Cause I'm not a weirdo, thats why"

Not being able to thing of a quick comeback under the circumstances, Octavia let the issue drop, sure Mark would revisit it later.

“Sorry” a realization suddenly dawned on Jessica “Isn’t Chris supposed to be a political prisoner in Russia?”

Chris froze, he hadn't planned for that particular fact to be remembered quite so quickly. “Ummmm, I escaped” hoping Jessica would buy it. She didn’t, instead chose to stare at him unblinkingly with her piercing steel grey eyes, which seemed read his thoughts. 

“Thats a good question which deserves a good answer” Octavia suddenly switched into politician mode. She had never been one herself, but had taken poli sci as an undergrad in university, and the character of politician came almost naturally to her.! “Yes, there was some level of deception in the use of the term political prisoner but, all actions that were taken, were done in order to protect your individual freedom. Its also necessary to remember the real issue here is the abduction of Leon, who Chris has volunteered to assist us in retrieving. So really I think we as a team need to thank him for taking the risk to be here today, and continuing to risk his personal safety for that of your brother.” 

Markus was staring at her as if she had squirrels pouring out of her ears, Jessica on the other hand, had her arms crossed and looked unconvinced with the explanation given. Octavia gave it another minute, eventually her persistence would wear out. Sure enough this proved true and Jessica let out a long sigh. “Whatever, but this isn't over” she gave Octavia her most disapproving glare. “So what skills do you have to offer us” she said the word skills with air quotes. 

“Well”, there was a tone of offence in Chris’s voice “seeing as I’m one of the world’s top experts on cybersecurity, I can find anyone or anything, online. Which I’m guessing you guys need, cause I’m familiar with the ICC’s online investigation tactics and they suck”

Octavia gave him a stern look "and why exactly are you familiar with ICC investigation protocol?"

For a moment Chris froze like a deer in headlights "no reason" he said quickly before scouring his desk for something to do in order to not make eye contact with his sister.

“Steven” Markus suddenly yelled unexpectedly , “that agent, Maliki said Steven’s entire internet foot print had been completely wiped, you could find it?” a sudden burst of energy and excitement gripping him 

“oh yeah no problem” Chris began typing something into his phone, “oh by the way Oct, I read the email your researcher sent you and the resolution on that surveillance video sucked, so I took it upon myself to improve it for you. Playing it on your screen now”

“video?” Octavia mumbled her brain still lagging, man she needed her Adderal. On the television a street-view of an apartment appeared, a few seconds later a white van drove up and parked directly in front of the entrance of Leon's apartment in Germany. Nothing happened for several minutes until the door of the apartment, opened and Leon walked out. It would’ve been easy to tell it was him even without Chris’s enhancements, Leo’s electric red hair would stand out anywhere. It was just barely possible to see the driver side door of the van open and someone get out, Leon seemed to know the person as he smiled and stood talking to them for a moment, before both got in the van and it drove off. 

“Do we have audio for this?” Octavia asked, her interest had been piqued, and her hyperfocus took over her ADHD. 

“No, but look at this” Chris rewound the video to when the driver got out of the van and zoomed in on his face, the image went blurry as he contorted the pixels and then sharper as they found their place again, revealing a clear as day image of Steven Leutiz.

Jessica walked closer to the screen, “Notice how Leon doesn’t act surprised to see him, almost as if he was expecting to meet him” she turned to look back at the group expecting them to build off the point 

“If that’s true then Steven must have somehow told Leon he was coming" Octavia paused for a moment to contemplate her proposal further before continuing, "there’s got to be an initial point of contact then” Octavia pulled out her phone and began to scroll through her messages “Iris already should’ve got Leon's email and phone records analyzed for us. Did she say anything to you about that Mark?”

“Iris?” Mark was fairly certain he hadn’t heard that name before 

Octavia looked at him confused “Yes, Agent Iris Maliki, I thought you said you spoke to her?” 

“Right” Markus tried to casually blow off the fact he hadn’t known her first name, “No, she didn’t say anything about calls or emails. She did mentioned Samantha slept over at Leon’s the night before the kidnapping though. Maybe he told her about the meet up” he suggested

“I can go tale to her” Jessica suggested, “I was closest to her, she’d be most comfortable talking to me” she paused for a second, Considering the logistics of this task “Samantha, doesn’t have a phone though, she’s completely off the grid. I would have to fly out to Iceland to find her”

Octavia nodded “that’s easily arranged, I can call the ICC division in Iceland and they can bring her in to save you some time. Plus that way it’s on the books, my boss would prefer that.” Switching the subject, she turned her attention to the van on screen “you know, I bet that van’s a rental, if it I can trace it to the dealer maybe then it might be possible to pick up on Steven’s money trail”

“That means your going to Germany and in that case you will need someone who speaks German” Mark stated flatly “I should come with you”

Octavia snorted “what, cause you speak German so well” she challenged sarcastically, rolling her eyes

“Yes actually” Mark was always happy to show her up “When I was in the peacekeepers I was stationed there”

“Fair enough” she was trying to hide it but was very obviously impressed. “So it’s settled then, Jessica will go to Iceland and talk to Samantha, find out how Leon knew Steven was coming. Marky and I will hightail it to Germany, to try and find where he rented that van, see if we can’t track him down that way. Meanwhile Chris stay where you are try and find that digital footprint, it has to be somewhere.” Everyone nodded in agreement, understanding their tasks “good, everyone get packing then, Chris get some sleep. Now for pete’s sake I need an Adderal” Octavia barked at the group. and with that the conversation ended.


End file.
